Thursday, December 30, 2010

It's Aloha Friday...

Okay, it's Thursday. But it's sort of Friday because tomorrow is a holiday! Wooooo! Three. Day. Weekend. Even better is that I get to see friends who are home from all over the world for the holidays. E.g. home from Bangladesh and Moldova. As well as far flung states. Reunion!

I found this column about adjusting to winter in the NYT today and thought it was spot on. I can totally relate. Enjoy!

P.S. It's my mama's birthday today.  
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Songs in my head

I have had three songs stuck in my head for the last five days.

Mariah Carey's classic "All I Want for Christmas is You"

"Happy Birthday Jesus" - in the voices of the children's choir at church last Sunday

Jimmy Fallon/Neil Young + Bruce Springsteen's "Whip My Hair"

I guess it's better than the Lady Gaga epidemic I was plagued with all summer... But I'm still ready for something new to get stuck. Auld Lang Syne maybe?

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Good things



Reunions and beach days and trips to the North Shore. I love Hawaii in Christmas-time.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

If I don't end up with a tan...

This is why. Rain, rain go away!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Two years!

Today is Dave and my second anniversary! 

requisite anniversary photo

Because we aren't in the same state (or even on the same continent) at the moment, we celebrated earlier this week with an asian fusion dinner and dessert at Hot Chocolate - a really great restaurant in Wicker Park. (We had some decadent hot chocolate and peanut butter dessert. Mmmm.)

Friday, December 17, 2010

Cookie illustrations

I love Christoph Niemann's posts for the New York Times. Whenever they pop up in my morning news perusal I come close to squealing in delight. Today you too can have the pleasure of reading "Let It Dough!" Go read it! It will make you happy.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Future home?

I'm loving this makeover featured on design*sponge today. The 1915 home belongs to and was redone by Percy. I love the dreamy, contrasty bathroom (although it seems a bit non-functional with no mirror), woodsy bedroom wall, and the brick installation. Elements of my future home perhaps?


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Lunch time creativity

How cute and fun is this?

"Lunchtime for Rob Kimmel’s son is the start of a creative adventure. Aside from the chicken nuggets and apple, the young boy finds a sticky note pinned to the inside of his lunch box (and has since kindergarten).


On that paper from his dad is a half-completed drawing and a half-written story. It’s up to him to finish it how he sees fit. The fun really starts when Kimmel picks up his son from school, and the stories unfold, revealing the plight of the sumo rat, secret potions and pirate antics. Kimmel started tracking the fun on WanderMonster."

{found and quoted via HOW}

Monday, December 13, 2010

Check it out, check it out

It rained and snowed like crazy this weekend. Look at us braving the elements. I got a new coat which is my new favorite thing. It is S.O. W.A.R.M. Seriously, it might change my life. It was -10 this morning and only my face was cold.

If you click here you'll see that my first bookcover is now listed in the UCP online catalog!

Friday was the day where I thought I was almost finished with everything. Saturday and Sunday were days full of Christmas and anniversary celebrations. Today is the day where I realize that I have lots more to do. Not imminently, but it's coming. The next few months will be carazy. (Yes, ca-razy).

Now back to work.

Friday, December 10, 2010

I love Adobe

Why? Let me nerd out for a little here. I love Adobe because they created this little feature called "content-aware fill" that is changing my life. Seriously. No longer am I spending hours painstakingly pixel-painting the bleed onto old, ugly covers. Nope. Now I just click a few buttons and BAM, the computer does it for me - BETTER than me. (Which makes me tangentially wonder if I should be afraid of robot computers taking over the world.) Several hours of work just became 7 minutes. I love you, Adobe.

P.S. I've had the hiccups almost all afternoon. Loud ones. Sorry officemates!

Wood Type Alphabet!

Check out this free desktop background! I've already downloaded it and saved it as mine. We can be twins! It's a scan of a wood type print from the Hamilton Wood Type Museum (which I've mentioned here before because it's pretty awesome). Click here to download in different sizes.

P.S. Happy Friday!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Color of 2011

Pantone announced its color of the year... Honeysuckle! Otherwise known as pink. I'm not sure how I feel about it... I mean it's pretty. But it's no teal, gray, or yellow... Ha.

{via HOW}

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Bridge Shots

In my last post I mentioned that Dave and I take a picture on this bridge every time we're in Greenville. I collected the photos from the four times I've visited his family and figured I'd post a retrospective. A two year retrospective. Fitting, I suppose, since this month is our two year anniversary! I think we look a lot different in each one. Maybe it's the hair changes?

December 2008



August 2009

May 2010

November 2010

Thanksgiving snapshots

My Thanksgiving highlights were... eating, sleeping, couch-ing, playing games, and so much more. Unfortunately, I do not have photos capturing any of those moments. I was enjoying them waaay too much. But trust me, it was relaxing and so much fun. And if anyone tells you that I lost most of the games I played, don't believe them! (Okay, so it might be true but shhh...).


One afternoon we raked many, many leaves. I took a photo of our results, simply because I couldn't believe how many leaves there were!

Our last night, we walked around downtown Greenville and took our traditional snapshot on the bridge. Look how gorgeous the colors are!

In sum, it was a wonderful holiday. I really needed the time away and it was so good! I have so much to be thankful for. :)

Oh dear.


We had a beautiful and warm fall in Chi-town and then BAM. It's cold. Seriously. It's wicked cold. I told Dave tonight that I don't remember it being this cold. He laughed. But you know what? Winter will have the last laugh. And it will be an evil one, for sure.

Cute factor: 10

Out of 10, of course. I can't get over how adorable this puppy is.

Yes, it's a french bulldog. Yes, Dave sent me this video as part of his ugly-dog-propaganda push. If only they stayed this cute forever...

But seriously, omigosh. This guy is adorable.

Friday, November 19, 2010

This is so cool..

How cool are these beds?? And the whole room!? Say it with me, "YELLOW AND GRAY! YELLOW AND GRAY!"

Last night I went to the Harry Potter midnight showing and I am s o o tired today. However, I think I've finally reached my second wind. Yeehaw! Also, the jittery coffee bugs have finally worked their way out of my system. Ha.

This weekend I'm excited to Christmas shop, see a comedy show, and hang out with Kate's family who is in town for Thanksgiving! Plus, I'm going to start packing for vacation next week! I can't wait!

Happy Friday!

[picture/bedroom from here]

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The jumping 'i'

I was just sitting at work, doing my thing when I realized that the italic 'i' in Scala looks just like a person jumping for joy. Does it not?

Hi, I'm Ashley and I'm a nerd.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Glamorous Things

Last night Paige and I watched Tina Fey receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. As dedicated 30 Rock fans, and in general Tina fans, we thought it was the best thing ever. And we love her dress. Isn't it glamorous? I love the lace top. Don't you wish you could wear it?

And another glamorous thing, I think this ring is so pretty.


[Tina photo] [Ring via Cup of Jo]

Friday, November 12, 2010

GLOBES!


I love globes. L-O-V-E them. When I find myself in a more semi-permanent home, I'm going to get a really cool one. It's my plan. So naturally I found this video to be the coolest thing ever. HOW GLOBES ARE MADE! Watch and be amazed. I viewed this on mute, so I have no idea if there's talking or narration or anything, but it's still sooo cool.

[via design*sponge]

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I make him take pictures with me...

...and he makes funny faces.

We arrived at church separately only to find that our outfits coordinated. I thought this called for a picture. He thought differently. Hence, we compromised. 

P.S. In case you wanted to know something sentimental, Dave wore that sweater vest on our first date. I think about that night every time he wears it. :)

Monday, November 8, 2010

Weekend + Weather

You know what Chicago is great for? Weird weather. Let's examine:
I had a wonderful weekend - one that didn't last long enough even though it was an hour longer than normal! As much as I hate how it's going to get dark so early now, I did love the extra hour of sleep. Plus it's only a four hour time difference to Hawaii now; you can ask my mom how much she loves that. (right, Mom?). Oh another plus: it's light out when I wake up now. This makes it easier to get out of bed.

This weekend we four of our delightful apartment went to see the Lion King musical (thanks to Kate's grandma and Kate's birthday!). It was ah-may-zing. The only way I know to describe it is 'visual spectacle.' The costumes and puppets and animals and my oh my, I whole-heartedly recommend it. I sat in my seat with my mouth wide open. (Were you embarrassed, Paige?)

I also got new boots (yayyy), barn danced (who knew there were real barns in Chicago?), and celebrated All Saints Day. I love church potlucks. And I love my church.

I have another photo from the weekend to share but it's on my computer at home, so that will have to wait. Weekend part 2... to come.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Happy Friday!!

Cue your Friday song; I've got one in my head already!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

My first book cover!

"The Forgotten Frontier" by Andrew C. Hess. It was a really interesting and enjoyable and frustrating and rewarding and super exciting process and I'm really happy with the way it turned out! And the first book with my name on the back!

I love the internet!

I have friends living all over the world right now and I am so thankful for the internet because it's so simple to keep in touch! (Don't get me wrong, I'm a real-mail advocate, too. Dave and I primarily wrote letters to each other while he was living in Zambia for six months.) I took these screen shots recently while chatting with Christa (who is living in Bangladesh) and Justine (Brazil) and Kari (Michigan). It's not quite the same as hanging out in person, but "snapshots" like these make me a big fan of the internet. :)
P.S. Isn't Christa so encouraging? I'm saving this picture for "one of those days" - you know what I mean?

Friday, October 29, 2010

Cute, yeah?

"O Happy Day" print from Keep Calm Gallery.
[via swissmiss]

Hi, I'm alive!

Happy Friday! Did you miss me? (Rhetorical question. Please don't say no!) Life has been busy and full and tiring the last two weeks. I have been storing up lots of pictures and fun things to share but then the amount of things I hadn't posted began to overwhelm me so I just avoided it like the plague. (This is also why my room gets so messy. Sorry about that, Paige!) Hopefully I'll be sharing from my "to-post" list over the weekend - this may include the two book covers I've designed over the last few weeks! My first two! So exciting!

Two photos to share. ABOVE: Marissa came to visit me and we spent a full day walking/shopping/eating/talking and it was glorious. BELOW: We celebrated Ashley's 24th at a swanky gastropub. Good times!

Happy Friday! Chilifest today at work!

P.S. It's 31 degrees outside!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Happy Friday!

Hi friends. Happy Friday to you! I just want to say that I have had the best afternoon. Dave came to have lunch with me, Chicago is having the most gorgeous weather, I got some fantastic encouragement at work, and now... the weekend! I hope you all are having a glorious day as well! Happy weekending!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Gap logo fiasco

Gap debuted a new logo on its website last week and the new icon was met immediately with criticism from customers and designers alike. Gap initially defended it, then back-pedaled a bit by encouraging submission of designs (a no-no in the professional design world), and now has officially gone back to the previous logo. Thank goodness. I hated the new logo so I'm thankful they've done an about-face. Seriously, it reminds me of something Microsoft-esque (did you want to sell clothes or computers?).

[graphic from the chicago tribune article]

Typographic Maps

My friend Adam pointed me to these awesome typographic maps designed by Axis Maps. They make so much sense in that the street names are easy to read and the important things are easy to locate. How many times have you lost your place as you tried to figure out the name of the street you're looking at? Happens all the time to me. You can purchase prints of these posters for Chicago and Boston (NYC, SF, and DC are in the works.)


via fastcodesign

Friday, October 8, 2010

Friday!

Today I'm full of energy and raring to go. (I'm going to thank the coffee for that.) I've got a whole list of things to get done at work today and I'm going to check, it, off. Yay for a beautiful day! Yay for Friday! Yay for coffee!

The picture above is from Kate's birthday celebration last weekend. :)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

An Autumnal Outing

Let's face it, 'autumnal' is just really fun to say. Last weekend on the day of Kate's birth (!!) we went apple picking waaay out in almost-Wisconsin. It was gorgeous (we missed the nasty rain in Chicago), cold, and delightfully autumnal. (Say it with me, "autumnal, autumnal, autumnal.") Edwards Orchards is a family owned place with amazing donuts that are the closest thing to malasadas I've tasted on the mainland. Perhaps they have some Portuguese in their background?

Thursday, September 30, 2010

My random thought (x2)

1. Today is a good day because it's payday! Woo!

2. I got my plane ticket for Thanksgiving last night. (I should say 'we' because I'm headed to South Carolina with Dave-o. So WE got our tickets last night.)

In any event, what I come to say is this: I love my reaction to buying tickets for within the continental U.S. I'm always excited because I feel like I got the best deal. (They are so. much. cheaper. than tickets to Hawaii.) So regardless of how normal or even more expensive than normal the ticket is, I still feel like I'm getting the best deal ever. Ha. How the mind works, eh?

More reasons the west is awesome...

Tamara and her husband Mike
Tamara and I grew up together and now she's married (almost one year!) and living in Colorado. She put up some gorgeous fall photos of the mountains and I just had to share two here because it is so, so gorgeous. I think the photo of the two of them should be a Christmas card, don't you?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Subtle hints from Google


I think Gmail might be dropping me a Really. Big. Hint.

Either that or they've caught wind of my desire to head west. What, it was obvious?

I might have to go look at property... just to be sure. I mean, I could build a ranch here:
Wait, "ranch" means "bed and breakfast" right?

Monday, September 27, 2010

Scenes from the week.

Paige is a really great multitasker. I found her curling her hair and watching tv SIMULTANEOUSLY.

I helped Dave put up his bookshelves in his new GREY room. I got to use a power drill and everything. SO FUN. Brought me back to my hardware store days. Especially that one time I built the rakes!

Grandpa and Grandma came to Illinois so Dave and I had dinner with them. Of course, in true Hepburn fashion we spent several hours after dinner playing cards!